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Orlando Orange
In construction Orlando Orange, born Orlando "Orly" Opportunity Orson, is one of the secondary antagonists of LOTM: Witnesses of Sleepy Hollow - Harvest Saga due to his actions, and he is also a supporting antagonist in LOTM: Witnesses of Sleepy Hollow Horsemen Saga - Conquest Arc where he made his major debut. Orlando is one of the major member of the Order of Flourish and one of its most corrupt members (representing the sin of greed) inside the secret council that ran everything inside Sleepy Hollow, under the plain sight of its leader, Lord Helio. In the public's eyes, Orlando is also the head of the infamous Niveus Pharmaceuticals, after he made it under his thumbs by force and conspiracy. His company is later connected to Prime Earth sub-vision of the United Kingdom of America when Malcolm Dreyfuss, who had sold his soul, bought Orlando's cooperation under the management of Dreyfuss Enterprise. Even so, Orlando remained a business rivalry with Dreyfuss and attempted to defuse Niveus Pharmaceuticals from Dreyfuss Enterprise. Being an amoral opportunist and greedy conspirator, Orlando is one of the three people responsible for the chemical attack in New York City (alongside Pedro Pineapple and Phyllis Peach, who is the true orchestrator behind this full conspiracy), that subsequently brought many deadly consequences all the way towards the Feast of Apollo. After having himself succumbed to the influence of the Feast, Orlando became void of redemption and only cared about greed. Like Pedro and Blaze Banana, Orlando accepted his darker side since he found his pretense as an honest businessman irritating to himself. ''Overview Design and Appearance Lord Orange Concept.jpeg|The first design of Orlando Orange (left), drawn by Officer Candy Apple Black.Lancer.full.2074312.jpg|Second Design of Orlando Nakahara.Chuuya.(Bungou.Stray.Dogs).full.2067799.jpg|Current Design of Orlando Like Phyllis Peach, Orlando himself has three different designs. The first one, which was designed by Officer Candy Apple himself, showed a menacing-looking man (middle-aged) with tangerine hair and several facial scars, also wearing orange cape. In his second design, Orlando was an old man with long hair and black cloak, looking like an old vampire in appearance that resembled Dracula. In the first two designs, Orlando was merely an arc villain that had no overarching roles other than a corrupt member from the Order of Flourish. Originally, Orlando was a petty thief who joined the Order to pursuit immortality, but he merely put his sense of justice onto his own sin of greed, similar to Lady Van Tassel, who has a shallow and weak character. In his third design, Orlando was shown as a young adult with tangerine hair and blue eyes, in a hat and a suit. However, his role was then changed drastically after merging the role of Niveus Pharmaceuticals leader with him. He became a lot more dangerous person who would pursuit political life after gaining wealth as a businessman, albeit in an utterly dishonest way. He also becomes a more important figure to bring the plague of Croatoan fully into the 21st century as chemical weapon recipes. He is the second most developed Order member who is only inferior Phyllis, as the latter had became one of the main villains of the storyline's first half. Name Introduction ]]As a seemly honest businessman and charismatic official to the public, Orlando was a corrupt-in-the-core man who put his own sense of justice on the concept of gain and losses, caring only gaining his own wealth could enforce his own justice, which was nothing but an excuse for his own desire of wealth and power. According to himself, Orlando was born poor with his family fell to ruins due to his father (a once famous doctor turned gambler) squandering his family wealth for the sake of gambling. In an young age, Orlando had came to realize that in the world, he must have enough wealth so that he could have his own right to speak out loudly. Wanting to get out of his own life as a beggar, Orlando had been prone into stealing as a petty thief. When he encountered the corrupt, devious and yet knowledgeable county politician, Pedro Pineapple, which they both thought it was "by chance" (but in fact it was under the manipulation of Phyllis Peach, who was looking for more pawn), Orlando found his chance to renew himself. When Pedro offered him a chance to work for him as well as a gold pistol, Orlando began his road to darkness. To achieve joining the Order of Flourish as one of its top members, Orlando used his own injustice and hypocritical way to gain profits by usurping the top seat of Niveus Pharmaceuticals. He also brainwashed the entire council of the company in order to make them acknowledge him as their new leader, so that he would have "evidence" for himself coming from an old family of Sleepy Hollow, which formerly ran Niveus Pharmaceuticals. Orlando later turned his company into a place of corruption, which aimed not only in medicines. After secretly binding his company to Dreyfuss Enterprises (and later the United Kingdom of America as a whole), Orlando secretly made a network of weapon dealings with underworld gangsters around Westchester County, using the American law of permitting citizens to wield their private guns as an advantage. It even later extended to the weapon dealing with the forces of KnightWalker Family in Europe. By playing at the policy, Orlando start selling guns to many citizens in order to gain profits, since the United States is the only country in the world which a citizen is allowed to wield private guns. He did not care about any of those shooting which costed lives, and he used the insecurity of American citizens as a tool for himself to gain profits from black markets around the world. ]]Worse, Orlando later even get his awful inspiration from the infamous Syrian chemical weapon incident, since he viewed that chemical weapon would be a good way to eliminate those people who was in his way, even with the cost of millions of lives. He never cared about losses of life, after all. Therefore, Orlando was also one of the three people responsible for the chemical weapon attack in New York City, manipulated by Phyllis Peach and executed by Pedro Pineapple, since Pedro purchased weapons from Orlando himself. The incident caused fatal consequences. Pedro later had Alexandar Apricot framed and poisoned in cell, and it subsequently causing the deaths of Dragonia Dragonfruit and Hestia Hawthorn, who were trying to investigate the cases, three years later and both died at the hand of Phyllis. The death of Hestia even triggered the Feast of Apollo, which had turned Orlando into a even worse person. After being exposed to the Feast of Apollo, Orlando became worse and even more greedy than before, and worse, he accepted his worse self happily. He no longer aimed at mere wealth. He aimed at power and planned to ascend himself into the level of political world, and even his company would be his stepping stone. All he wanted would be eliminating Pedro after he got everything from him, and he even went to the point of betraying Lord Helio, whom he once loyal to. Dealing with the remnants of Moloch led by an escaped Lady Van Tassel, who was trying find a new partner in order to bring Moloch back to life, Orlando manipulated a possessed Carl Robinson (as the Horseman of Conquest) to produce vials of Croatoan Virus in fake flu vaccines. By selling the fake vaccine, Orlando would go on gaining his profits, with no care that the virus would spread around the world once the Horseman of Conquest gone rogue. Above all, Orlando was one of the three people who was responsible for the evil events in the Order of Flourish as a whole. Even so, just like Pedro, Orlando was merely another pawn for Phyllis - and the demon behind her, Moloch - to gain control in Sleepy Hollow. The death of Orlando was utterly karmic, since he was the only traitor in the Order of Flourish that was not killed directly by the Witnesses, but by the Croat swarms formed because of his fake vaccine that haunted the entire nation for two years ever since Conquest's awakening. Sin Motif - Greed Tarot Motif - X. Wheel of Fortune (Reversed) Orlando represents the '''Reversed Fortune Arcana', which is an inverted version of the Wheel of Fortune Arcana, or simply known as Fortune Arcana in Thoth Tarot. In tarot, the Fortune card teaches patience in order to achieve greater gains and changes, while the reversed card represents quick resolutions by any means necessary. Wheel of Fortune (X) is the tenth trump or Major Arcana card in most Tarot decks. It is used in game playing as well as in divination.The card pictured is the Wheel Of Fortune card from the A. E. Waite tarot deck. A. E. Waite was a key figure in the development of the Tarot in line with the Hermetic magical-religious system which was also being developed at the time, and this deck, as well as being in common use today, also forms the basis for a number of other modern tarot decks. The Wheel of Fortune was a common allegorical symbol in European iconography. The four figures shown either climb, are at the summit, or fall, or at the bottom of a revolving wheel presided over by personified Fortuna. The wheel is not always shown inscribed with any lettering. Where this is the case, the letters T-A-R-O (clockwise) or T-O-R-A (counter clockwise) can often be found aligned against four of the spokes, which can also be interpreted as R-O-T-A, the Latin word meaning "wheel". In some decks, such as the Waite, the wheel is also inscribed with additional alchemical symbols representing the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water (which are also said to be represented throughout the Tarot by the four "suits" of Pentacles or Discs, Swords, Wands, and Cups respectively. These emblems can also be seen on the Magician's table in the Magician card (Card I)). ''Logo Niveus Pharmaceuticals.jpg Data Personality Even before his rise to fame, wealth and power, Orlando seemed to be quite brash and arrogant, believing himself to have the edge during conflict and having full faith in his actions. He was easy to anger and quite brutal at times, as shown when he brutally attacked two muggers in his family's park for bringing shame to the area. Orlando was once childhood friend with Selina, but after her parents were killed, the two became distant. Whilst he appeared to have a fondness towards her, Orlando actually held a grudge against Selina, especially after he learnt that Stephen Strawberry, Selina's father, forcefully committed his mother into Tarrytown and made the corrupt Walter Watermelon rose to power, forcing Orlando becoming a beggar and struggled for earning fame and wealth. When Orlando took over the job as the Top Executive of Nievus Pharmaceuticals following Selina's unwilling "resignation", he acted disrespectfully toward her, even going as far as to break a present from Hestia, to anger her, and write a disrespectful speech for her to read out during the press conference announcing this event. Even so, Orlando held a great respect for Lord Helio, his master, as he believed that the two were fighting for the same cause; Benevolence in Sleepy Hollow. However, unlike Helio, who never believes in money, Orlando had no problem going corrupt and willing to get his hands dirty in bribery and doing illegal business to achieve his goals. Due to Orlando's unquenchable greed, Lord Helio would see him as a danger and try to bring him down too, which would be the ultimate catalyst to drive Orlando into treachery. Even when he became a beggar, Orlando still wanted to earn wealth and even tried to steal money from others. He was not only greedy but also quite treacherous, as he believes that betrayal is also a way to the success. He claims that he wants Selina pay for what her father did to Orlando's own family, but still he had no qualm in ruining other families in order to snatch their fortune for him, and he seemed quite enjoying such. He has something of a victim complex, viewing society's prejudice towards the overweight and poor as responsible for driving him to a life of crime. The second step of Orlando's career, which is a crime leader, made him even worse, becoming a ruthless, callous, and greedy crime lord, obsessed with accumulating wealth and money. He even dedicates a giant room that filled with a large amount of money, which disturbs Ichabod Crane and disgusts Abbie Mills, when they arrived in the headquarter of Niveus Pharmaceuticals in order to stop him. Helene Hawthorn claims he's "nothing but a disgusting fly swarming to dirty money" and a "money-grubbing carnivore." Orlando claims to have a habit of spending to calm himself down, then blackmailing the persons responsible for his stress to recoup the loss. As a businessman, which is his third and final part of his life, Orlando has another negative side as being an ambitious and career-focused professional who is always chasing his next victory. Unfortunately for the Order of Flourish, Orlando's ambitions come with a complete, deliberate ignorance of the pain he causes to his company or his friends, or how many scandals Niveus Pharmaceuticals faces due to its poor safety practices and punishing work hours after he becomes its CEO, Orlando refuses to let his nobler passions influence his business, instead behaving as ruthlessly as he feels he must to get ahead in the world and becomes a politician. Personal Information Physical Appearance Orlando is a tall man with short, messy strawberry blond hair, a large nose and a pair of blue eyes. He is always seeing wearing a black hat and a set of black suit, while wearing a smug smile on his face. His appearance is identical to any mafia crime boss that could be during 1930s found in Chicago, Miami or anywhere in the United States that has mobsters. After a head injury (happened not long after the Feast of Apollo), Orlando went under surgery, and his skull was installed with metals, which made his head as hard as iron, while his intelligence or rationality wasn't affected. The metal piece could only be seeing when the wind blown his hair back. Aside from suffering from head injuries, Orlando is also physically ill. He is very skinny to the point that he was, in one case, almost mistaken as someone who ran away from famine. While disguised as a terrorist during his actions in mayoral election, Orlando wore an large mask that covered his face, and he no longer wore suit. Instead, he wore trenchcoat and wielded a gun, although Selina suspected that it was Orlando, her former best friend, when she recognized his skinny and shambling frame. Personality Originally, due to his backstory with a crumbled family, Orlando fell into the bottom of social pyramid and started to believe that only money and power would gain him rights to speak in the society. This twisted him into an ambitious, spiteful and greedy person who attempted to climb towards the top. With the help from Selina, Orlando joined the Order of Flourish, but he still always despised Selina, since he discovered that his parents fell from grace because of Selina's father. Orlando believed that the apple didn't fall from the tree, and so he viewed Selina just as bad as her father - a corrupt criminal under a false facade. However, this is merely an excuse for Orlando to take power from Selina. Being an absolute hypocrite, Orlando used crime as his ways while declaring that Selina's father was a crime boss. Using the scandal involved the Sarandon Family, Orlando decided to instigate his revenge, before he was approached by La Gloton, who persuaded him to join their malevolent cause. That's when he started to change and returned to Sleepy Hollow, after a year of going abroad to study. During the year, he managed to create his own mob and secretly planned to overthrow Sleepy Hollow's greatest mafia leader, Don Francis Fleur, who shared a privilege in the Order of Flourish because of Selina's father. He later managed to take down Francis and later gained his crime empire for himself, but that's another story. Among the town, Orlando is infamous for being a sweatshop boss, and he is also uncaring, deceitful and treacherous. To make his goal come true, he can even betray others. For the sake of profits, Orlando can discard any codes and rules, by mass-producing Croatoan Virus and hid them inside the flu vaccine, so that he would progress the long-stalled Croatoan Project the Order started, but it was only what he thought. While Selina refused to destroy the fake vaccine after Orlando's demise, she did try to keep those viral samples in secret so that the Order would make a progress in remaking the world into a better place. Orlando, on the other hand, refused to destroy the fake vaccine simply because it could bring him profits and his chance to enter the political world. As a result of accepting his desire exposed by the Feast of Apollo, Orlando starts to live in his mere delusions, like many others in the Order, and he had no well-intentions. He believed the Croatoan Virus would be the medicine towards the Blackness and some other freakish disease, which none of the doctors in the world would ever figure it out before him. He never cared about the potential pandemic it might caused, and he even tried to sell the fake vaccine to the world, believing it would be treasure for the rise of the United States as the strongest nation in the world. However, in spite of his uncaring nature, Orlando isn't completely heartless. He still mourned his parents and lamented that the fall of his family signaled the corruption of Sleepy Hollow, where the town's order and freedom no longer existed. Nevertheless, he is not beyond using these as his facade to justify his crimes, even if he kept stating that Selina is a daughter of criminals. History Cameo Synopsis Major Battles Abilities & Skills Fighting Skills Alchemy For a long period of time, Orlando is obsessed over the idea of alchemy in spite of it not being truly some scientific stuff. He believed that combining alchemy with the use of Supreme Croatoan Virus would bring longer lifespan to human beings, even immortality, by making them made of gold and minerals. Years later, he managed to create a special kind of elixir that could make human flesh into gems and gold. He tried to create living golden human as new troops for the Order of Flourish. Originally, Orlando tried to make this a new weapon against Moloch, but he used innocent people of Nievus Pharmaceuticals to achieve his goals. However, none of his subjects barring Selina Strawberry ever survived. It later even make Selina an immortal because of her later consumption of her more potent version of Supreme Croatoan Virus, mixing the alchemic power, Firenza Junior's blood and the SCV together inside one body. It eventually altered Selina's body structure and turned her into a natural immortal who can never die natural. An ironic fact was that the elixir's original intentions soon got scrapped by his own greed. Orlando no longer shows sympathy towards his test subjects. All he wanted was to create profits from it. He saw people died from his immoral experiments, but he didn't even care about it at all. Power Levels Themes Main Theme MAD - Beggars at the Feast Quotes *"Overcome failure at any cost, even if it means betraying others."'' *''"I say "properly", which means dinner and the show. Have you ever seen her cook? It's like an entire performance. She used to throw such exquisite dinner parties... You heard me. Used to."'' *''"I'm not La Gloton, but I often attend the killer's dinner feast... or more precisely, I encouraged the killer to throw a feast, and the killer will have new victims. It's a classic win-win situation."'' *''"Human flesh or not, as long as the killer throws a exquisite dinner party to suit my taste and desire, nothing else will matter. After all, we're eating the very spirit of this town so that we can recreate a new spirit ourselves."'' ''Quotes about Orlando *"Oh, Orly, I think I'm really seeing you, for the first time in my life, that you're so cheap and horrible." - Selina Strawberry'' *''"Orlando is a picky person who is very hard to serve, but still we can afford his extravagance and perfection in new vaccine. To be honest, my friends, Niveus Pharmaceuticals have never been prolific thanks to his run of this company. Besides, with my familial support on profits earned from our auction hall, our reign in this town will hold still as long as we run our business smoothly." - Lillian Lime'' *''"He has no problems eating human with me. All Orly cares about is extravagance. He declares war on the family of Sarandon to take back what he believed to be his belongings." - Phyllis Peach'' *''"It serves him right. He's a money-grubbing carnivore who deserves to be eliminated by the Order's might. I'm still surprised that he has no skills to fight. My sister did a nice try." - Helene Hawthorn'' ''Gallery Nakahara.Chuuya.(Bungou.Stray.Dogs).full.2067799.jpg Nakahara.Chuuya.(Bungou.Stray.Dogs).full.2067809.jpg Nakahara.Chuuya.(Bungou.Stray.Dogs).full.2070815.jpg Nakahara.Chuuya.(Bungou.Stray.Dogs).full.2077708.jpg Nakahara.Chuuya.(Bungou.Stray.Dogs).full.2039714.jpg Nakahara.Chuuya.(Bungou.Stray.Dogs).full.2046598.jpg Nakahara.Chuuya.(Bungou.Stray.Dogs).full.2032136.jpg Kamui.(Gin.Tama).full.2077485.jpg Trivia * Like some members of the Order, the birth name of Orlando (Orlando Orson) was based on a famous actor. In his case, his name was inspired by Orson Welles. *Like Blaze Banana and Pedro Pineapple before him, Orlando is also a satire character based upon some traits of Donald Trump. In Orlando's case, the elements was Trump's trade war against China, which started in 2018. *His codename, Orange, not only represents the said fruit, but also is a reference to '''William III of England', also widely known as William the Orange like many of his relatives. William inherited the principality of Orange from his father, William II, who died a week before William's birth. His mother, Mary, was the daughter of King Charles I of England. In 1677, he married his fifteen-year-old first cousin, Mary, the daughter of his maternal uncle James, Duke of York. A Protestant, William participated in several wars against the powerful Catholic king of France, Louis XIV, in coalition with Protestant and Catholic powers in Europe. Many Protestants heralded him as a champion of their faith. In 1685, his Catholic father-in-law, James, Duke of York, became king of England, Ireland and Scotland. James's reign was unpopular with the Protestant majority in Britain. William, supported by a group of influential British political and religious leaders, invaded England in what became known as the "Glorious Revolution". On 5 November 1688, he landed at the southern English port of Brixham. James was deposed and William and Mary became joint sovereigns in his place. They reigned together until her death on 28 December 1694, after which William ruled as sole monarch. *Orlando seemed to be never cared about La Gloton's identity, even if he also works for her and knows the killer is Phyllis Peach all along. In his debut, he goaded Phyllis into a dinner show, saying her cooking is a show, like a performance. It was later revealed that he knew about this all along, but he never care if he's eating humans. All he wants is a lavish dinner feast that suit his taste. *Due to his actions, Orlando can be considered as the secondary antagonist of Order's Darkness Sub Saga, since he's responsible for the creation of Croatoan Virus' modern incarnations - as well as the creation of Supreme Croatoan Virus - and is the second in command of Phyllis' conspiracy. *Unlike Pedro, Orlando has a much bigger plan to expand his influence and move to the political world in order to take the power he desired, so that he can take control upon the nations' order and enforce his twisted sense of justice. *Like many other villains from the Order, Orlando has an ironic defeat and demise. He was defeated in a close combat with Abbie, who is much shorter but much more agile than him, since his metallic body had compromised his own speed a little bit. His Croatoan Ability of magnetism nearly proved to be his downfall after he was nearly crushed by metal trashes, and his overuse of his robotic minions made him lack of assistance. Orlando was later abandoned by the staff, having his Croatoan Ability erased by Selina (a woman he once framed for crime actions) via Dawn's Early Light, and finally being torn apart by Croatoan Zombies created from his very own guinea pigs of fake vaccine. *In spite of being an utterly corrupt and sadistic person, Orlando seemed to care about his parents very much, but he revealed this was also a facade to make him instigate his vendetta against Selina. ''Complete Monster Proposal Like Lady Peach, Lord '''Orlando Orange', who is loosely inspired by the infamous Vlad the Impaler, is absolutely far away from saint, either. Being the catalyst of Conquest Arc and the tertiary villain of the entire Harvest Saga, Orlando Orange is the head of the infamous Niveus Pharmaceuticals, which is a key part for Michael Langdon and the Horseman of Conquest to unleash the Croatoan Virus (and later its enhanced version) on Earth to destroy humanity without caring other people's life, as long as he gain his profits in selling the fake vaccine for epidemic that could turn human into Croatoan zombies. Unlike many of his own colleagues who were from elite levels and/or oldest families in the town of Sleepy Hollow, Orlando was once a beggar in the town. With a strong God Complex, Orlando used the technique of a crook and murderer to gain his evil profit and took control of the entire organization of Niveus Pharmaceuticals by brainwashing its council to make him lead the whole company, treating his staff like tools for him to gain his own goal. After that, with the help of the aforementioned Phyllis Peach as well as Pedro Pineapple, Orlando had been involved in the production of chemical weapons for many years, which he would gain profit by his dealing with Pedro. Those chemical weapons would be used in the chemical weapon attack in New York City, which subsequently caused the deaths of not just many innocent citizens who died directly, but also those who was framed or involved in the investigation of the case, including Alexandar Apricot, Dragonia Dragonfruit, Alfred Apricot and finally Hestia Hawthorn, triggering the Feast of Apollo. After being exposed to the Feast, Orlando suffered from its effect and became an even worse person. His partnership with Pedro was because of Pedro's political parentage and he wanted to become a politician instead of just a business man. Orlando was not only the builder of the chemical weapons that caused death in New York, but also a key to make the original Croatoan Virus being brought into the 21st century. He did not care if Sleepy Hollow became just another Croatoan Colony. He only cared about gains, losses and his future rise into power. ''Inspirations Real-Life Inspirations Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant, April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was a prominent United States Army general during the American Civil War and Commanding General at the conclusion of that war. He was elected as the 18th President of the United States in 1868, serving from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, Grant worked closely with President Abraham Lincoln to lead the Union Army to victory over the Confederacy. After Lincoln's assassination, Grant's assignment in implementing Reconstruction often put him at odds with President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor. Twice elected president, Grant led the Republicans in their effort to remove the vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery, protect African-American citizenship, and support economic prosperity. Grant's presidency has often been criticized for its scandals and for his failure to alleviate the economic depression following the Panic of 1873, but modern scholarship regards him as a president who performed a difficult job with some merit, and took strong action on civil rights for African Americans. An examination of Ulysses S. Grant's two terms as President of the United States (1869–1877) reveals many scandals and fraudulent activities associated with persons within his administration, including his cabinet, that was in continual transition, divided by the forces of political corruption and reform. Grant, ever trusting of associates, was himself influenced by both forces. The standards in many of his appointments were low, and charges of corruption were widespread. Starting with the Black Friday (1869) gold speculation ring, corruption would be discovered in seven federal departments, including the Navy, Justice, War, Treasury, Interior, State, and the Post Office. Reform movements initiated in both the Democratic Party and the Liberal Republicans, a faction that split from Republican Party to oppose political patronage and corruption in the Grant administration. Nepotism was prevalent, with over 40 family members benefiting from government appointments and employment. The prevalent corruption was eventually called "Grantism." The unprecedented way that Grant ran his cabinet, in a military style rather than civilian, contributed to the scandals. For example, in 1869, Grant's private secretary Orville E. Babcock, rather than a State Department official, was sent to negotiate a treaty annexation with Santo Domingo. Grant never even consulted with cabinet members on the treaty annexation; in effect, the annexation proposal was already decided. A perplexed Secretary of Interior Jacob D. Cox reflected the cabinet's disappointment over not being consulted: "But Mr. President, has it been settled, then, that we want to Annex Santo Domingo?" Another instance of Grant's military-style command arose over the McGarrahan Claims, a legal dispute over mining patents in California, when Grant overrode the official opinion of Attorney General Ebeneezer R. Hoar. Both Cox and Hoar, who were reformers, eventually resigned from the cabinet in 1870. Grant's reactions to the scandals ranged from prosecuting the perpetrators to protecting or pardoning those who were accused and convicted of the crimes. For example, when the Whiskey Ring scandal broke out in 1875, Grant, in a reforming mood, wrote: "Let no guilty man escape". However, when it was found out that Babcock was indicted, Grant testified on behalf of the defendant. During his second term Grant appointed reformers such as Benjamin Bristow, Edwards Pierrepont, and Zachariah Chandler who cleaned their respective departments of corruption. Grant dismissed Babcock from the White House in 1876, who was linked to several corruption charges and scandals. It was with the encouragement of these reformers that Grant established the first Civil Service Commission. George Soros George Soros (/ˈsɔːroʊs/, /ˈsɔːrɒs/; Hungarian: Soros György, pronounced ˈɟørɟ; born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American investor, business magnate, philanthropist, and author. Soros is one of the world's most successful investors. As of October 2017, he had a net worth of $8 billion. Born in Budapest, he survived Nazi Germany-occupied Hungary and emigrated to England in 1947. He attended the London School of Economics graduating with a bachelor's and eventually a master's in philosophy. He began his business career by taking various jobs at merchant banks in England and then the United States, before starting his first hedge fund, Double Eagle, in 1969. Profits from his first fund furnished the seed money to start Soros Fund Management, his second hedge fund, in 1970. Double Eagle was renamed the Quantum Fund and was the principal firm Soros advised. At its founding, the Quantum Fund had $12 million in assets under management, and as of 2011 it had $25 billion, the majority of his overall net worth. He is known as "The Man Who Broke the Bank of England" because of his short sale of US$10 billion worth of Pound sterling, making him a profit of $1 billion during the 1992 Black Wednesday UK currency crisis. His early studies of philosophy led him to develop and apply Karl Popper's General Theory of Reflexivity to capital markets, which he claims renders him a clear picture of asset bubbles and fundamental/market value of securities, as well as value discrepancies used for shorting and swapping stocks. Kung Hsiang-hsi Kung Hsiang-hsi (Chinese: 孔祥熙; pinyin: Kǒng Xiángxī; Wade–Giles: K'ung3 Hsiang2-hsi1; September 11, 1881 – August 16, 1967), often known as Dr. H. H. Kung, was a Chinese banker and politician in the early 20th century. He married Soong Ai-ling, the eldest of the three Soong sisters; the other two married Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek. Together with his brother-in-law, Soong Tse-ven, he was highly influential in determining the economic policies of the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government in the 1930s and 1940s. By the time of the Second Sino Japanese War (1937–45), Kung had achieved a reputation as an exceptionally powerful and manipulative figure within the Nationalist government, sometimes in alliance with his brother-in-law, Soong Tse-ven and his sister-in-law, Soong Mei-ling, and sometimes in rivalry with them. By the time the Nationalist government had moved to Chongqing, Kung was running his own secret service. Zhou Enlai, while serving as the Communist Party's ambassador to the KMT in Chongqing, was notably successful in gaining the confidence of Kung's advisor, Hu Egong, allowing Zhou to conduct his intelligence work more efficiently. In January 1938, Kung, a 75th-generation descendant of Confucius, greeted his relative, Kung Te-cheng, who was also a descendant of Confucius, after Kung Te-cheng had fled to Hankou after the Japanese invasion of Shandong. After Kung Te-cheng fled, the Japanese blew up his residence on Mount Tai. TIME magazine addressed Kung Te-cheng by the title "Duke Kung", and referred to his residence as the "ducal seat". After a string of Japanese mishaps in 1938, Kung gave a radio address in which he stated that "God is helping China!" Kung's radio speech came after reports that a Japanese attempt to seize Hankou had failed; and, with constant Chinese guerrilla activity, Chinese forces had seized territory captured by Japan. In 1944, Kung gave a speech at China House in New York with one of Mencius's direct descendants, Meng Chih. Both were alumni of American universities. After the KMT retreated to Taiwan in 1949 at the end of the Chinese Civil War, Kung moved to the United States. He died in 1967 in Locust Valley, New York. Zhang Chunqiao Zhang Chunqiao (Chinese: 张春桥; 1 February 1917 – 21 April 2005) was a prominent Chinese political theorist, writer, and politician. He came to the national spotlight during the late stages of the Cultural Revolution, and was a member of the Maoist radical group dubbed the "Gang of Four". Even before the foundation of the People's Republic of China, Zhang was infamous for being in cooperation with writers that support right-wing Nationalists and Fascism, and being a son of a Kuomintang reactionist. Born in Juye County, Shandong, Zhang worked as a writer in Shanghai in the 1930s and became closely associated with the city. After the Yan'an conference in 1938, he joined the Communist Party of China. With the creation of the People's Republic of China, he became a prominent journalist in Shanghai in charge of the Liberation Daily newspaper. He met Jiang Qing in Shanghai and helped to launch the Cultural Revolution. Zhang first came to prominence as the result of his October 1958 Jiefang ("Liberation") magazine entitled “Destroy the Ideas of Bourgeois Legal Ownership.” Mao Zedong ordered the reproduction of the article in People’s Daily, and personally wrote an accompanying “Editor’s Note” giving the article his own mild approval. He was seen as one of Mao Zedong's full supporters as Mao became involved in an ideological struggle with rival leader Liu Shaoqi. In February 1967, at the outset of the Cultural Revolution, Zhang organized the Shanghai Commune along with Wang Hongwen and Yao Wenyuan, essentially overthrowing the local government and party organization and becoming chairman of the city's Revolutionary Committee, which combined both the former posts of mayor and party secretary, until the latter post was restored in 1971. Zhang also initially served as one of the leaders of the Cultural Revolution Group, in charge of carrying out the Cultural Revolution around China. He spent much of the Cultural Revolution shuttling between Beijing and Shanghai. In April 1969 he joined the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and in 1973 he was promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee, a council of top Communist leaders. In January 1975 Zhang became the second-ranked Vice Premier; Deng Xiaoping was the first-ranked Vice Premier at the time, but Deng was purged in 1976. He was arrested along with the other members of the Gang of Four in October 1976, as part of a conspiracy by Ye Jianying and newly anointed party leader Hua Guofeng. Zhang was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, together with Jiang Qing, in 1984, but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment, and in December 1997 the sentence was further reduced to eighteen years. In 1998, Zhang was released from prison to undergo medical treatment. He then lived in obscurity in Shanghai for the remainder of his life. Zhang died from pancreatic cancer in April 2005. King Louis XV of France Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (''Louis le bien aimé), was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity in 1723, his kingdom was ruled by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, as Regent of France; the duke was his great-uncle, as well as first cousin twice removed patrilineally. Cardinal Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinal's death in 1743, at which time the young king took sole control of the kingdom. During his reign, by the terms of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, territory won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745. He also ceded New France in North America to Spain and Great Britain at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of the Duchy of Lorraine and Corsican Republic into the Kingdom of France. He was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI in 1774. French culture and influence were at their height in the first half of the eighteenth century. However, many scholars believe that Louis XV's decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury, discredited the absolute monarchy, and made it more vulnerable to distrust and destruction. Evidence for this view is provided by the French Revolution, which broke out 15 years after his death. Norman Davies characterized Louis XV's reign as "one of debilitating stagnation," characterized by lost wars, endless clashes between the Court and Parliament, and religious feuds. A few scholars defend Louis, arguing that his highly negative reputation was based on propaganda meant to justify the French Revolution. Jerome Blum described him as "a perpetual adolescent called to do a man's job." ''Wei Zhongxian Wei Zhongxian (Xian of Suning 1568 – Pekin, December 12, 1627) was a Chinese court eunuch who lived in the late Ming dynasty. He is considered by most historians as the most powerful and notorious eunuch in Chinese history. He is best known for his service in the court of the Tianqi Emperor (r. 1620–27), when his power eventually appeared to rival that of the emperor. Zhou Yongkang Zhou Yongkang (born December 1942) is a retired senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC). He was a member of the 17th Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), China's highest decision-making body, and the Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission (Zhengfawei) between 2007 and 2012, making him the 3rd most powerful politician in China. In that position, Zhou oversaw China's security apparatus and law enforcement institutions, with power stretching into courts, prosecution agencies, police forces, paramilitary forces, and intelligence organs. Zhou rose through the ranks of the Communist Party through his involvement in the oil and gas industry, starting as a technician on the Daqing oil field during the Cultural Revolution. He was at the helm of the China National Petroleum Corporation between 1996 and 1998, then became Minister of Land and Natural Resources until 1999, and subsequently Party Secretary of Sichuan, then China's second most populous province. Zhou was a State Councilor of the State Council from 2003 to 2008 and also a member of the Party Secretariat of the Central Committee. He served as the Minister of Public Security from 2002–07, before being promoted to the PSC. Zhou retired at the 18th Party Congress in 2012. In late 2013, Zhou was placed under investigation for alleged abuse of power and corruption, a decision state media announced in July 2014. Zhou was the first Politburo Standing Committee member – and the most senior-ranked official – since the founding of the People's Republic of China to be tried and convicted of corruption-related charges. Following his investigation, Zhou was expelled from the Communist Party of China. On June 11, 2015, Zhou was convicted of bribery, abuse of power and the intentional disclosure of state secrets by the Intermediate Court in Tianjin. Zhou and his family members were said to have taken 129 million yuan (over $20 million) in bribes. He was sentenced to life in prison. Marcelo Odebrecht Marcelo Bahia Odebrecht (Brazilian Portuguese: baˈjɐ odɛˈbɾɛ(t͡)ʃ; born 18 October 1968) is a Brazilian businessman, the former CEO of Odebrecht, a diversified Brazilian conglomerate, which is Latin America's largest construction company. He became vice president of the Brazilian Association of Infra-Structure and Primary Industry (ABDIB) in 2005, and vice president of COINFRA, FIESP in 2004. He is chairman of Odebrecht Óleo E Gás, Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias, Foz Do Brasil and Eth Bioenergia S.A. He is chairman of Braskem S.A. He serves is a director of the Exterior Commerce Chamber CONEX since 2005, a member of the strategic superior board of Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo (FIESP) since 2008 and a director of the Industry Development Study Institute, IEDI since 2003. On 19 June 2015, he was arrested as part of a major investigation, Operation Car Wash (Portuguese: ''Operação Lava Jato), into corruption at the state-owned oil company Petrobras. Otávio Azevedo, CEO of Andrade Gutierrez, Brazil's second largest construction firm, was also arrested, along with a total of ten others, including senior Odebrecht executives. On 8 March 2016, he was sentenced to 19 years in prison, after being convicted of paying more than $30 million in bribes. ''Marcus Licinius Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (/ˈkræsəs/;2 c. 115–53 BC) was a Roman general and politician who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Crassus began his public career as a military commander under Lucius Cornelius Sulla during his civil war. Following Sulla's assumption of the dictatorship, Crassus amassed an enormous fortune through real estate speculation. Crassus rose to political prominence following his victory over the slave revolt led by Spartacus, sharing the consulship with his rival Pompey the Great. A political and financial patron of Julius Caesar, Crassus joined Caesar and Pompey in the unofficial political alliance known as the First Triumvirate. Together the three men dominated the Roman political system. The alliance did not last long, due to the ambitions, egos, and jealousies of the three men. While Caesar and Crassus were lifelong allies, Crassus and Pompey disliked each other and Pompey grew increasingly envious of Caesar's spectacular successes in the Gallic Wars. The alliance was re-stabilized at the Lucca Conference in 56 BC, after which Crassus and Pompey again served jointly as consuls. Following his second consulship, Crassus was appointed as the Governor of Roman Syria. Crassus used Syria as the launchpad for a military campaign against the Parthian Empire, Rome's long-time Eastern enemy. Crassus' campaign was a disastrous failure, ending in his defeat and death at the Battle of Carrhae. Crassus' death permanently unraveled the alliance between Caesar and Pompey. Within four years of Crassus' death, Caesar would cross the Rubicon and begin a civil war against Pompey and the optimates. Some of Crassus' wealth was acquired conventionally, through traffic in slaves, production from silver mines, and speculative real estate purchases. Crassus bought property which was confiscated in proscriptions. He notoriously purchased burnt and collapsed buildings. Plutarch wrote that observing how frequent such occurrences were, he bought slaves 'who were architects and builders.' When he had over 500 slaves he bought houses which had burnt and the adjacent 'ones because their owners would let go at a trifling price.' He bought 'the largest part of Rome' in this way. He bought them on the cheap and rebuilt them with slave labor. Bo Xilai Bo Xilai (born 3 July 1949) is a former Chinese politician. He came to prominence through his tenures as the mayor of Dalian and then the governor of Liaoning. From 2004 to November 2007, he served as Minister of Commerce. Between 2007 and 2012, he served as a member of the Politburo and Communist Party Secretary of Chongqing, a major interior municipality. In 2013, Bo was found guilty of corruption, stripped of all his assets, and sentenced to life imprisonment. The son of Bo Yibo, one of the Eight Elders of the Communist Party of China, Bo Xilai is one of the "princelings" of Chinese politics. He cultivated a casual and charismatic image in a marked departure from Chinese political convention. In Chongqing, Bo initiated a campaign against organized crime, increased spending on welfare programs, maintained consistent double-digit percentage GDP growth, and campaigned to revive Cultural Revolution-era "red culture". Bo's promotion of egalitarian values and the achievements of his "Chongqing model" made him the champion of the Chinese New Left, composed of both Maoists and social democrats disillusioned with the country's market-based economic reforms and increasing economic inequality. However, the perceived lawlessness of Bo's anti-corruption campaigns, coupled with concerns about the image he cultivated, made him a controversial figure. Bo was considered a likely candidate for promotion to the elite Politburo Standing Committee in 18th Party Congress in 2012. His political fortunes came to an abrupt end following the Wang Lijun incident, in which his top lieutenant and police chief sought asylum at the American consulate in Chengdu. Wang claimed to have information about the involvement of Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, who allegedly had close financial ties to the two. In the fallout, Bo was removed as the party chief of Chongqing and lost his seat on the Politburo. He was later stripped of all his positions and lost his seat at the National People's Congress, and was eventually expelled from the party. Heshen Heshen (Manchu: ᡥᡝᡧᡝᠨ; Möllendorff: Hešen; Chinese: 和珅; pinyin: Héshēn; Wade–Giles: Ho2-shen1; 1750 – February 22, 1799) of the Manchu Niohuru clan, was an official of the Qing dynasty who was favored by the Qianlong Emperor. Born Shanbao (Shan-pao; 善保), his given name was later changed to Heshen. His courtesy name was Zhizhai (Chih-chai; 致齋). He was a member of the Plain Red Banner, and known as the most corrupt official in Chinese history. The shame of Heshen's corruption came to play when the Qianlong Emperor abdicated in February 1796, the full damage of the corruption was now in wide view. However, Qianlong continued to rule China behind the scenes under the grand title of Taishang Huang (Retired Emperor). It was not until Qianlong's death on 7 February 1799 that his successor, the Jiaqing Emperor, was able to prosecute Heshen. On February 12, Heshen was arrested along with military officer Fuk'anggan.needed Declared guilty by an imperial edict, he was condemned to slow slicing. The Jiaqing Emperor spared Heshen this horrible death out of respect for his half-sister Gurun Princess Hexiao, and instead ordered him to commit suicide (by hanging himself with a rope of golden silk) in his home on 22 February, sparing his family. From the 24 years that Heshen caught the Qianlong Emperor's attention and favor, he had amassed an incredible fortune. In the Jiaqing Emperor's confiscation of Heshen's property, his wealth estate included: 3,000 rooms in his estates and mansions, 8,000 acres (32 km2) of land, 42 bank branches, 75 pawnbroker branches, 60,000 taels of pure gold, 100 large ingots of pure gold, (1,000 taels each), 56,600 medium silver ingots, (100 taels each), 9,000,000 small silver ingots, (10 taels each), 58,000 livres/pounds of foreign currency, 1,500,000 copper coins, 600 lb of top-quality Jilin ginseng, 1,200 jade charms, 230 pearl bracelets (each pearl comparable in size to large cherries or longans), 10 large pearls (each the size of apricots), 10 large ruby crystals, 40 large sapphire crystals, 40 tablefuls of solid-silver eating utensils, (serves 10 per table), 40 tablefuls of solid-gold eating utensils, (serves 10 per table), 11 coral rocks (each over a meter in height), 14,300 bolts of fine silk, 20,000 sheets of fine sheep-fur wool, 550 fox hides, 850 raccoon dog hides, 56,000 sheep and cattle hides of varying thickness, 7,000 sets of fine clothing (for all four seasons), 361,000 bronze and tin vases and vessels, 100,000 porcelain vessels made by famous masters, 24 highly decorative solid-gold beds (each with eight different types of inlaid gemstones), 460 top-quality European clocks, 606 servants, 600 women in his harem. His total property was ultimately estimated at around 1,100 million taels of silver, reputedly estimated to be an amount equivalent to the imperial revenue of the Qing government for 15 years. In his chief butler Liu Quan's quarters, a large quantity of treasures including 240,000 silver taels were also discovered. The Jiaqing Emperor charged Heshen with 20 crimes, of which "defiance of imperial supremacy" and "power transcendence" accounted for half. The influence of Heshen however did not end with his death, as corruption continued to spread through different levels in and out of the capital, among both civil and military personnel. Bannermen developed habits that made them useless as a military force. The Chinese Green Standard Army was beset with irregular practice and had lost much of its fighting spirit shown in the early Qing Dynasty. The habits of luxury and big spending led to moral degradation and the general decline of the dynasty. The Qianlong Emperor's Ten Great Campaigns were completed at the cost of 120 million taels, against an annual revenue of some 40 million taels. The result of these massive spendings and increasing trend towards luxury set the path towards financial instability within the later part of the Qing Dynasty. King Leopold II Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) reigned as the second King of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909 and became known for the founding and brutal exploitation of the Congo Free State as a private venture. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest surviving son of Leopold I and Louise of Orléans, he succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865 and reigned for 44 years until his death – the longest reign of any Belgian monarch. He died without surviving male heirs. The current Belgian king descends from his nephew and successor, Albert I. Leopold became the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private project undertaken on his own behalf. He used explorer Henry Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885 the colonial nations of Europe authorized his claim by committing the Congo Free State to improving the lives of the native inhabitants. From the beginning Leopold essentially ignored these conditions. He ran the Congo using the mercenary Force Publique for his personal enrichment. He used great sums of the money from this exploitation for public and private construction projects in Belgium during this period. He donated the private buildings to the state before his death, to preserve them for Belgium. Leopold extracted a fortune from the Congo, initially by the collection of ivory, and after a rise in the price of rubber in the 1890s, by forced labor from the native population to harvest and process rubber. Under his regime millions of the Congolese people died. Modern estimates range from one million to fifteen million, with a consensus growing around 10 million. Several historians argue against this figure due to the absence of reliable censuses, the enormous mortality of diseases such as smallpox or sleeping sickness and the fact that there were only 175 administrative agents in charge of rubber exploitation. Reports of deaths and abuse led to a major international scandal in the early 20th century and the Belgian government ultimately forced Leopold to relinquish control of the colony to Belgian civil administration in 1908. Fictional Inspirations Masamune Dan / Kamen Rider Cronus Masamune Dan is the founder of Genm Corp, the father of Kuroto Dan, and the primary antagonist of ''Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, having manipulated the events of the series to further his own goals. Though he keeps up the guise of a friendly and benevolent businessman, Masamune's true personality underneath is that of a self-centered sociopath and manipulator who cares for nothing but his own goals, being willing to kill thousands of people in order to achieve them. He addresses each of the Kamen Riders and Bugsters by the Rider Gashats they use or in the game they originated from, viewing them not as living beings but as products of the Genm Corp and even refers to killing them off as "discontinuing a product". For the first half of the series, Masamune keeps up the facade of a well-meaning CEO and father while he is behind bars and Kamen Rider Chronicle is in development. However, after he is released from jail and his plans start to come to fruition, Masamune reveals himself to be a tyrannical control freak who believes he has the right to control everyone's fates and is willing to do whatever it takes to see the end result of his goals, including resorting to underhanded and deceitful tactics. Even after he has been defeated, Masamune clings to his belief that he is the controller of everyone's lives, and kills himself purely out of spite to preventing the victims of Kamen Rider Chronicle from being saved. In Another Ending, however, it's also revealed that Masamune genuinely loved his wife, as her getting infected with the Bugster virus serving as the catalyst to his and Kuroto's villainy. He also expresses his remorse following his resurrection and is horrified to see his son going off the deep end when the latter instigated Zombie Chronicle. ''Ethan Roark Sr. Senator Ethan Roark Sr. (or better known as Ethan Roark) is one of the recurring antagonists in the Sin City series. He appears in the comic That Yellow Bastard, as the secondary antagonist, and appears as one of the main antagonists of A Dame to Kill For alongside Ava Lord. Roark is an extremely wealthy and corrupt politician, and the most powerful man in Sin City. He once murdered his own wife with a baseball bat but was never arrested for it, despite having left his fingerprints all over the crime scene and even full out confessing to it. Roark frequently uses his police connections to cover up the crimes committed by his pedophilic son, Roark Jr. (later known as the Yellow Bastard) whom Roark hopes will one day become the US President. Roark is also the younger brother of an even more powerful political figure, Cardinal Roark, who through his influence achieved his position. Roark makes his first appearance in ''That Yellow Bastard. After an honest police detective named John Hartigan shoots and disfigures Roark Jr. after he kidnaps his latest victim, twelve-year-old Nancy Callahan, Roark visits Hartigan in the hospital and plans to frame him for Jr.'s crimes. After being released from prison, Hartigan rescues Nancy and brutally kills Jr., enraging Roark and prompting him to plot revenge. Fearing that Roark will go after Nancy, Hartigan commits suicide with his own gun, rendering Roark's vendetta useless. He was portrayed by the late Powers Boothe, who also played Joshua Foss and Benjamin Travis. ''Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Classic Continuity) Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the ''James Bond franchise. He is an evil and knowledgeable criminal mastermind and the archenemy of James Bond. Ernst Stavro Blofeld is the founder and head of the global terrorist organization SPECTRE with aspirations of world domination. He makes anonymous, cameo appearances in From Russia with Love and Thunderball, before appearing as the main antagonist in You Live Only Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and Diamonds Are Forever. He is recognizable for frequently petting his white Persian cat. He later reappears in the rebooted series, acting as the main antagonist in Spectre with his organization as the titular supporting antagonists. Since then, the character has been notified as one of the most iconic, active, perpetual, and influential villains to ever date in film media. He was portrayed by the late Anthony Dawson, but voiced by the late Eric Pohlmann in From Russia with Love and Thunderball, the late Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice, the late Telly Savalas in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the late Charles Gray in Diamonds are Forever, the late John Hollis, but voiced by the late Robert Rietti in the pre-title sequence of For Your Eyes Only, Max van Sydow in Never Say Never Again, and Christoph Waltz in Spectre. During the classic continuity of 007 films, very little is revealed about the enigmatic Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Referred to initially as 'Number 1', Blofeld makes his first, anonymous appearance during the events of From Russia with Love; operating out of his luxury yacht. His face is not seen and only his lower body is visible as he strokes his trademark white cat, discussing a plan to avenge the death of SPECTRE member Doctor Julius No by setting a trap that will put Bond and Russian agent Tatiana Romanova in a position where it will appear that they killed each other while escaping to escalate tensions in the Cold War. Consequently, Number 1 puts Rosa Klebb, an ex-SMERSH operative and the organisation's Number 3, in charge of Kronsteen's plan to manipulate the spy into stealing a Lektor cryptographic device from the Soviets. However, the plan failed and Bond managed to kill Red Grant, a SPECTRE assassin also selected by Klebb, and make off with the Lektor. Blofeld then again called Kronsteen and Klebb before him, where the two respectively blamed the other one for the failure of the operation. Eventually, Blofeld had Kronsteen killed for failing to consider Bond's capabilities. Morzeny, one of Blofeld's henchmen, stabbed Kronsteen with a blade tipped in poison. While Kronsteen died, Blofeld only watched, commenting that one day SPECTRE would have to create a faster working venom. Blofeld then orders Klebb to personally kill Bond, though this too end up in failure as Klebb ends up being killed by Tatiana. After being absent from Goldfinger, Blofeld returned in Thunderball. Again, his identity was concealed, this time behind shutters and glass, as he chairs a meeting of the upper echelons of SPECTRE at their secretive board room in Paris, France. As each operative accounts for their respective projects to raise money for the organisation, Blofeld uncovers embezzlement involving two of the men and ruthlessly executes the guilty party by electrocution. With business dealt with, he invites Number 2, Emilio Largo, to brief the assembly on the organisation's scheme to steal two atomic warheads for the purpose of extorting money from the United Kingdom. In both early appearances he wore a black business suit, rather than the Nehru jacket or Mao suit he would later become associated with. In addition it can be seen he has a full head of dark hair. ''Penguin (Telltale) Oswald Cobblepot, known as The Penguin, is the secondary antagonist of the 2016 video game ''Batman: The Telltale Series. Forced into a life of crime due to the manipulations of Thomas Wayne and his allies, Penguin sought revenge against the Wayne family and the current generation for this. To achieve this, Cobblepot joined the terrorist organization Children of Arkham and would become a key player in their schemes against Gotham's elite. Oswald Cobblepot was the son of Theodore Cobblepot and his wife Esther. His family was once a large influence on Gotham, owning a large portion of the city's land, even building a park for the city's public. Oswald became friends with Bruce Wayne when they were young. According to Alfred Pennyworth, the two were "as thick as thieves", though Oswald would take this quite literally in later life. Whilst still a child, Oz's family lost his fortune to an unspecified event, likely from events set in motion by Thomas Wayne, Carmine Falcone and Hamilton Hill. Whilst running for mayor, his father took his own life for reasons due to having his fortune taken, whilst his mother was forcefully committed to Arkham Asylum by Wayne to take control of the land she legally owned. Because of his mother's perceived mental illness, Oswald would often be bullied by other children, but would be protected by Bruce. At some point after his family's fall from grace, Oswald moved to the United Kingdom, joining the military for some time. After receiving a dishonorable discharge, he went on to establish himself as a professional criminal. Oz set up a number of illegitimate enterprises, including illegal boxing matches and arms dealing, under the alias "Penguin". Oswald was also arrested many times, once by the Essex Police Department, and served a number of prison sentences. At some point, Oswald came back to Gotham for unspecified reasons, possibly in the hopes to take revenge on the Wayne family (despite Thomas and Martha being dead), Falcone and Hill. He joined the group known as the "Children of Arkham", though it is currently unknown whether he joined before returning to Gotham. Oswald later contacted Mayor Hill and, through either blackmail or a willing alliance, had him compile data and information about Falcone and the Wayne's illegal activities. Unknown to Hill, Oswald planned to turn on him and kill him once he had released this information. Oswald also hired famed cat-burglar Catwoman to steal this data from Hill and help members of the Children of Arkham find the psychogenic chemical that drove his mother, and hundred of other citizens, insane. ''Ebeneezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge (/ˌɛbɪˈniːzər ˈskruːdʒ/) is the protagonist of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella, ''A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. Dickens describes him thus: "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice." His last name has come into the English language as a byword for miserliness and misanthropy. The tale of his redemption by the three Ghosts of Christmas (Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) has become a defining tale of the Christmas holiday in the English-speaking world. Ebeneezer Scrooge is arguably both one of the most famous characters created by Dickens and one of the most famous in English literature. Scrooge's catchphrase, "Bah! Humbug!" is often used to express disgust with many modern Christmas traditions. ''Drizella Tremaine Drizella Tremaine is Cinderella's bossy older stepsister, Anastasia Tremaine's older sister and the eldest daughter to Lady Tremaine and a major antagonist in Disney's 12th full-length animated feature film, ''Cinderella and its two sequels. She is portrayed as haughty, bossy, abusive and highly disorganized. She is very jealous of Cinderella's success and beauty and often gets her into trouble. Unlike her younger sister, Anastasia, who changes her spiteful ways and develops into a kind and good-natured woman, Drizella remains mean-spirited and cruel, and never overcomes her hatred of Cinderella. In the sequels, though not in the original film, she is almost like a younger version of her mother. She was originally voiced by the late Rhoda Williams, and is currently voiced by Russi Taylor. ''Auric Goldfinger Auric Goldfinger is the titular main antagonist from the 1964 film ''Goldfinger, which is based on Ian Fleming's 1959 novel with the same title. He is a powerful gold smuggler, jeweler and metallurgist and the head of his gold company "Auric Enterprises". He was portrayed by the late Gert Fröbe, whose voice was dubbed over in post-production by Michael Collins. Arguably the most famous James Bond villain in any film, Goldfinger's obsession is gold. Welcoming any enterprise which will increase his considerable stock, Goldfinger engages in international gold smuggling. Smuggling gold out of Britain, Goldfinger molds the bodywork of his Rolls Royce in eighteen carat gold, weighing approximately two tons. Making six trips a year to the continent, his men dismantle the vehicle at "Auric Enterprises, A.G" in Switzerland. They reduce the gold in a special furnace, which in turn are turned into gold ingots. A considerably wealthy man, Auric Goldfinger owned many properties throughout the world. Apart from being a legitimate bullion dealer, Goldfinger poses as a legitimate international jeweler. As such, he was legally entitled to operate modest metallurgical installations such as "Auric Enterprises, A.G", which he utilized in his gold smuggling scheme. An avid golfer who plays with a Slazenger 1 golf ball, Goldfinger owns the golf club where he and 007 play a high-stakes game. He is defeated by Bond, however, when he is tricked by Bond after attempting to cheat. Goldfinger also owned a farm in Kentucky that was used for horse breeding called "Auric Stud". ''Tyrone King Tyrone King, better known as T.K., is the main antagonist of ''Dead Rising 2. He is the notorious host and producer of the equally controversial, but insanely popular, pay-per-view game show Terror is Reality sponsored by Zombrex. T.K. has no qualms about killing zombies for entertainment, as it pays well. Always on the lookout for the next big business opportunity, it is all about money for T.K. He is generally accompanied by the twins, Amber Bailey and Crystal Bailey, his two co-hostesses and bodyguards. He is first seen hosting a controversial show called Terror is Reality (TIR for short) along with the Bailey Twins. This show is about fighting against a horde of zombies for money. Chuck Greene, the protagonist, joins the show only to get Zombrex for his daughter Katey. King takes advantage of the situation when Phenotrans starts a zombie outbreak and frames Chuck for the incident, robbing the city of its money. He encounters him in a train, but he escapes. Later on, he tries to escape by helicopter with the money, but Chuck was able to stop him. Later, when zombies get into the safe house, King is bitten and Chuck must give him Zombrex. Later, he manages to free himself, and he kidnaps Katey and Stacey and forces Chuck to give him what he wants. However, King knocks him out and tries to get the two eaten by the zombies before Chuck fights him. When Chuck thought he won, King grabs him and says the line of Terror is Reality and gets thrown over the rail by Chuck, who finishes the line by saying "...win big." King falls to his death, and the zombie horde immediately starts feeding on his corpse. ''Milady de Winter Milady Clarick de Winter, often referred to as simply Milady, is a fictional character in the novel ''The Three Musketeers (1844) by Alexandre Dumas, pere. She acts as a spy for Cardinal Richelieu and is the primary antagonist of the story. A capable and beautiful spy, Milady is an unusual example of a strong, independent woman with a tragic and checkered past, filled with the seduction and willful destruction of men who will provide her with monetary support. Milady is remorseless and unrepentant for her countless "misdeeds". Late in the novel, after the reader is already presented with numerous examples of her villainy to the crown, she is revealed to be the wife of Athos, one of the musketeers in the title of the novel. A teenager forced to enter the convent, she falls in love with a priest and escapes with stolen church property to fund their new life in another part of the country, for which both of them were branded by a legal official. She was with a man in Athos' village, and pretending to be his sister, when Athos, a nobleman (the Comte de La Fère), fell in love with her and, despite her obscure origins, married her. Out in the forest one day, he discovered the brand on her shoulder, identifying her as a convicted criminal. Thinking she had married him only for his money, and feeling dishonored, Athos hanged her from a tree on the spot, but she survived. After being expelled by Athos, she winds up in the employ of Cardinal Richelieu, working as his spy, assassin, and messenger. She steals the jewels that Anne of Austria, wife of King Louis XIII, entrusted to her lover, the English minister Duke of Buckingham, but the intended scandal is averted. D'Artagnan himself later meets Milady and falls under her spell, though he also pursues an affair with her maid, Kitty. When the French troops lays siege to the Hugenot city of La Rochelle, the Duke of Buckingham leads an unsuccessful expedition to assist the besieged. In a house near La Rochelle, Athos and his friends Porthos and Aramis overhear a conversation between the Cardinal and Milady, plotting to kill Buckingham before he can make another attempt. Even if he is the enemy of France, the musketeers regard Buckingham, the man, as a friend. They commit treason to the crown, and thus warn him of the threat and upon arriving in England, Milady is arrested and imprisoned in a house by her hostile brother-in-law, the new Lord de Winter. She seduces her jailer, John Felton, persuading him that she is a Puritan at heart and that Buckingham is persecuting her because she refused his advances. Felton has his own grievances against Buckingham, whom he blames for his lack of promotion in the army. He thus proceeds to murder the Duke (a historical event), but after carrying out the murder he is aghast to see Milady's ship sailing away without him. He is later hanged. Returning to France, Milady murders d'Artagnan's lover, Constance Bonacieux, when the two happen upon one another in a convent. The musketeers and Lord de Winter hunt Milady and track her at Lille, where she is beheaded after a mock trial. ''Cutler Beckett Lord Cutler Beckett is the secondary antagonist of the 2006 live-action Disney film ''Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and the main antagonist of it's 2007 back-to-back sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. He can also be considered the Heavy of the entire series. He is a representative of the East India Trading Company, who wants to kill all pirates and control the seas by finding the heart of Davy Jones and using it to manipulate Jones into doing as they command. He and Jack Sparrow have had encounters in the past that leave both of them with permanent engravings on their skin. Beckett seeks to obtain order in the new world, as well as make Britain grow more powerful. Behind his elegance and manner, Cutler Beckett is a cold, ruthless, arrogant, manipulative and murderous man. He is incredibly, almost eerily calm. Beckett speaks in an incredibly relaxed voice, he rarely or ever expresses his temper and has a sarcastic sense of humor. Even when The Flying Dutchman and The Black Pearl had surrounded his ship and began to fire, he still managed to keep a level-head all though this could be due to shock. Beckett can come off as being an increasingly xenophobic and magisterial person, he despised pirates and sought to eradicate them from the Caribbean, single-handedly he has caused the deaths of dozens of pirates, even some of them were children. Beckett appeared to be a complete megalomaniac, he sought to locate the Dead Man's Chest that contained that heart of Davy Jones so that he may control Jones ship, The Flying Dutchman and in doing so would control the seven seas. As mentioned before hand, Beckett is a master manipulator, he will bargain or even blackmail someone for his advantage as he did with both Will Turner and Davy Jones. However he wouldn't always follow through on his deals, as when he promised Sao Feng the Black Pearl if Feng captured the crew of the Pearl, something which he would never honor. After gaining control of the Dead Man's Chest, Beckett appears to have developed paranoia and believed that his new minion Davy Jones would sic his pet, the Kraken on him and this demanded that Jones slay the monster and then killed Governor Swann in case he ever discovered the true significance of the Dead Man's Chest. Beckett comes off as being quite authoritative and confident, perhaps even overconfident and egotistical, and he never once doubted his fleet and given its size and numbers this was justified. Beckett was neither a religious man nor did he believe in God which was odd for men at that time and refused to become a priest. As an eight year old, Beckett was a very intelligent boy and ahead any of the children of his class; as an eighteen year old person, he was extremely well-educated and knowledgeable, and he was familiar with the workings of Isaac Newton; as a grown man Beckett possessed great skills that help him run the East India Trading Company. He is also extremely biddable, obsequious, manipulative, and smooth-talking, so he will use any means necessary to get what he wants, and he is very deferential and polite. He was portrayed by the Ian Charleson Award winning actor, Tom Hollander, who also played Isaacs in Hanna. ''Veda Pierce Veda Pierce Forrester is the main antagonist of ''Mildred Pierce. She is a greedy, spoiled brat who does not appreciate any of the sacrifices her mother makes for her. She treats her mother worse than dirt, and openly hates her mother for what she believes is degradable behavior (which is actually Mildred working to satisfy Veda's expensive lifestyle). Veda turns into a murderer near the end of the movie when she shoots her step-father because he refuses to marry Veda. She then tries to convince her mother to take the blame for the murder, which her mother tries to do out of guilt. In the 1945 film adaptation of the novel, Veda is portrayed by Ann Blyth who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. ''Itsuro Takamizawa/Kamen Rider Verde Itsuro Takamizawa (高見沢 逸郎 Takamizawa Itsurō) was Kamen Rider Verde (仮面ライダーベルデ Kamen Raidā Berude, Masked Rider Verde), a fictional character in the tokusatsu production ''Kamen Rider Ryuki. He was one of the 13 Kamen Riders that the story revolves around, though his only screen appearance was in the TV Special 13 Riders, which was considered an alternate story to the TV series. He was a thirty-eight year old businessman, head of the Takamizawa Group. Extremely wealthy, Takamizawa kept his sinister nature hidden to protect his public image. He accepted Kanzaki's proposal to join the Rider War so that he could gain more power and rule the world. In the "13 Riders Special", he was the one to kill Kamen Rider Raia. Soon after he saw Shinji as a threat to his own plans and gathered every like-minded Rider to team up and dispose of the troublemaker. He also managed to mortally injure Kamen Rider Knight with his Final Vent, only to be killed by Knight's Final Vent immediately afterwards. 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